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Kidnapping: Editor Recounts Close Shave in Lagos

Wow! What a close shave!” That was all a
former Style Editor with The Compass Newspapers, Ronke Kehinde, could say after
a narrow escape from suspected kidnappers in Ikeja, Lagos.

Drugged and driving almost unconsciously
through Ikeja, with three assailants on her trail, Mrs Kehinde, the wife of
newsmakersng.com publisher, Dipo Kehinde, got off the hook in what she
described as a miraculous escape.

This is her story:

It was like a scene from the movies, I
was waylaid by strange men last Wednesday.

I was on my way home from the Computer
village, Ikeja; driving towards the bridge, near Ikeja General Hospital. There
was a holdup due to the traffic light under the bridge. Then, a lady appeared
from the blues with flyers in her hand. She was by the passenger’s window, but
her hands were already inside my car, holding the flyer to my face.

She said, “You can buy landed properties
by paying in installment.”

A view of the flyer

I wasn’t actually interested, but I took
the flyer because I wanted her to go so that I could drive. At this time the
traffic light had turned green. I took the flyer from her and dropped it on the
passenger seat beside me.

As soon as I moved, I noticed something
strange. My eyes were peppery. I immediately took the flyer and threw it on the
floor of the car because I wasn’t sure if what I was feeling was as a result of
the flyer, or maybe it was coming from the surrounding.

I took the roundabout turn, beside the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH); then I connected the flyover
near Awolowo house. As I continued to drive, I was feeling so dizzy and
uncomfortable. My face was peppery.

As I was getting close to Guinness, I
noticed a light brown car following me. There were three men in the car.
Anytime they get to my side, in the traffic, they will all look at me
intensely.

It was at this point I realized that it
was a set up. Although I was uncomfortable, I was conscious of my environment.
While driving I stuck my head outside the window, so I could get fresh breeze.
I was choking.

Those guys were expecting to see an
unconscious woman or one who is struggling to remain conscious. The lady that
gave me the flyer must be working with them.

When they noticed that I was fully
conscious because I was looking at them, they stopped following me.

When I got home and told my husband, he
opened the same flyer, the effect of whatever it was laced with was still very
potent. His eyes became peppery. He wrapped the flyer in a cellophane bag. He
said that he would like to get someone to do a forensic analysis of the
substance on it.

I’m sharing this so that all motorists
will be aware and be careful. Kidnappers are using different techniques to get
their victims.

When we shared this experience with some
close friends, someone told us through a WhatsAppmessage that the flyer could
have been soaked in a potent street drug called Burundangga (also known as
Scopolamine), which criminals now use to incapacitate victims before attacking
them.